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What the death of George Floyd means for US leadership abroad

Amb. Ian Kelly, ambassador in residence at Northwestern University, will address the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the U.S. Helsinki Commission, Thursday, July 2 in a hearing in Washington, D.C., that will examine how the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of police and subsequent protests may have affected U.S. leadership abroad.

The hearing will be streamed live at 10 a.m. CDT.

Ambassador Kelly is a retired senior foreign service officer who last served as the U.S. ambassador to Georgia from 2015 to 2018. He previously served as the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) from 2010 to 2013. 

Prior to these ambassadorships, Kelly held a variety of high-level positions at the U.S. State Department, including serving as Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s spokesperson (2009-2010). He has extensive experience working on issues relating to NATO, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Balkans. He has a master’s degree from Northwestern and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.

In addition to Ambassador Kelly, other witnesses include:

  • Malcolm Momodou Jallow, member of Parliament (Sweden) and General Rapporteur on Combating Racism and Intolerance, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)
  • Nkechi Taifa, founding principal and CEO, The Taifa Group, LLC

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe is an independent commission of the U.S. Federal Government. For 40 years, the Commission has monitored compliance with the Helsinki Accords and advanced comprehensive security through promotion of human rights, democracy and economic, environmental and military cooperation in the 57-nation OSCE region.

One priority of the Helsinki Commission is ensuring that U.S. practices remain consistent with international standards and that the U.S. remains responsive to legitimate concerns raised in the OSCE context, including the conduct of elections; the death penalty, the use of force by law enforcement and other criminal justice practices; and the status and treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere.